Many terms were Googled, but nothing seemed to show a product that would solve the problem. The hallway hardwood floors run “the short way” and the home office floors run “the long way” and where the two join, is an uneven wobbly bunch of 100 year old wood, exactly where the door “meets” the floor.

Planing a door is one thing, but for reasons unknown, this beautiful wooden door has about three inches missing from the bottom.

The three inch slanted gap was not problematic until Nag Champa came into the picture. Trying to contain incense smoke and prevent it from seeping into the entire house became a challenge because of the huge space where the door is supposed to meet the floor.

After poking around at the hardware store, the craft store, and the discount store, the idea to MacGyver something out of a rubber garage-door gasket seemed like a viable solution. It was floppy enough to swing back and forth under the door, and seemed like it would crumple up near the hinges, where the door and floor are only about a half inch apart when the door is open.

The rubber garage door bumper cost $9 and if nailed to the door and installed the same way a regular door sweep would be installed, it might do the trick. And then, lighting struck and the light bulb went on: Duct Tape.

You can make a custom door sweep in any size or any width… even a varied width so it’s narrower and wider where it needs to be: from duct tape.

• Buy a roll of extra wide duct tape.
• Tear off a piece about one inch wider than the door.
• Lay it on the floor, sticky side up and curl a tiny bit of the corners over so it sticks to the floor and stays in place.
• Tear off a second piece, and slap it down on top, sticky side to sticky side.
• Lastly, tear off a piece the same length as the others, lay it down sticky side up and then lay your duct tape piece so just a tiny amount of the sticky side is exposed, trim to the exact width of your door.

• Align your custom door sweep up with the bottom of your door in the closed position, and stick it into place.

BOOM!

You did it. You made a door sweep out of duct tape.

Wobbly Hardwood Floors

Door Sweep with Door Closed

Door Sweep with Door Closing

Door Sweep with Door Opening

The best part is, they make duct tape in all kinds of crazy colors and patterns – so go nuts! Any good adhesive tape should work, and if you are concerned about the door’s finish, use removable tape or removable tabs to hold the sweep in place.

Thank you for reading this article. Consider leaving a comment below, or subscribing by entering your email address in the box to the right where it says “Sign Up, It’s Free!”